Apparatus for drying foundry molds



Mgrch 18, 1947. c. A. BARNETT Erm, 2,417,673v

` APPARATUS FOR DRYING FOUNDRY HOLDS med July 15,` 1945 :s4 Sheets-sheet 1 INVENTORS CHARLES ABARNETTond JOSEPH .BEYVL Bmm @Uf ATTORNEYS MarchA 18, 1947. l* c. A. gA-RNETTv ETAL 2,417,673

A APPARATUS FOR DRYING FOUNDRY HOLDS Filed July 15, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvENroRsl cmzLssAAnneTnna v BY qosepnmaewn.

,f` "f90/f- ATTORNEYS March 18,1947.l C NBARNETT Em l 2,417,673

APPARATUS FOR DRYIN FOUNDRY MOLDS med Juiy 15. 194s :sheets-sheet s JOSEPH M. BEYVL ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 18, 1947 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEFicE s 2,417,673 f APPARATUS Fon DRYING FOUNDRY MoLDs Charles A. Barnett and Joseph M. Beyvl, Clevei land,` Ohio, assignors to The Foundry Equip- Ament Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 15, 1943, serial No. 494,756

(ci. zz-svi 6 Claims.

The present invention relates to apparatus for conditioning foundry molds and the like and has One of these methods is :thesurface or skin dry-` ing process whereby heat is applied to the moldforming surface of the sand, such as by a gas torch played over such surface, orby heat radiated from a gas, electrical or solid fuel burner.

The other method generally employed to condition green sand molds involves the subjecting of the entire mold body to a baking or heat soaking operation in a, drying oven. It will readily be appreciated that the first of these two general methods of treatmentl is subject to,the disadvantage of uneven application of heat to the mold-forming surface and the inefficient and uneconomical transmission of heat; ythe second general process having the disadvantage of requiring relatively long periods of time for effecting the penetration of the drying or baking heat throughout, the entire mass of the mold body, not to mention the excessive amount of heaty required.

In the co-pending U. S. patent application of C. A. Barnett, co-applicant herein, Serial No. 408,063, filed August 23, 1941, there has been disclosed a mold conditioning process and apparatus wherein the mold body, containing the green sand, is placed upon acontinuously moving conveyor and subjected to a blast of heated air which is sfo fdirectedas to impinge uniformly upon the sand mold-formingsurface,'producing rapid and uniform drying of such surface lthroughout an even depth zone'. .Howeven it is not feasible or practical to employ a continuous conveyor for all and sizes of foundry molds. Either the space required by'k such vasconveyor and its associatedfhousing and forced air heating apparatus wouldfgbe `too large -when considered in proportionmwith the numbeior sizes ofthe molds conditioned, orthecost, of such an` apparatus would be but'xofproportion.

Our

the provisionjof 'an apparatus for conditioning resent invention, therefore, is directed to and weight as to prevent them from practically and economically being transported upon a continuous conveyor type of drying oven, and wherein the mold body itself, including the cope and drag (and even cheek if need be) are utilized as the enclosing housing through which the mass of heated air is circulated to eil'ect Ithe uniform drying and baking of the green sand in the zones adjacent the mold forming surfaces thereof.

Briefly outlined, our invention comprises a source for generating and delivering a, forcibly projected body of heated air to a distributing manifold located in the interior of the mold flask, with means for supportingA the upper and lower parts of the latter, such as the cope and drag, in spaced apart, and in enclosing position.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

'I'he annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention maybe used.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a single mold drying apparatus involving the principle of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a. vertical, sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a. multiple mold drying apparatus involving the principle of our invention; i

Fig. 4 is a vertical, sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of' Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal view taken substantially at the parting of the mold, of a modified form of our mold drying apparatus, and taken substantiallvv along line 5-5 as indicated in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical, sectional View taken substan'tlally along line 6- -6 of Fig. 5.

Now referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the apparatus shown therein includes a. mold body or flask indicated generally at I, which in turn is made up of the upper vportion or cope 2 and the lower portion or drag 3. The cope' 2 is filled with a body of mold sand forming the mold surface 4 and the drag 3 likewise contains a body of sand forming the other mold surface 5. When the cope 2 and drag 3 are assembled in normal 3 ing, the mold surfaces4 and 5 define the desired form of mold cavity. However, as best shown in Fig. 2, the cope 2 and drag 3 are herewith assembled, and for the purposes of our invention in spacer 8 having flanges 9 and II) abutting the anges 5 and 1, respectively, around the parting edges of the cope and drag. The channel 8 thus cbnstitutes a vertical wall member forming a conl tinuation of the flask walls, viz., the walls of the cope 2 and drag 3. A distributing outlet manifold II is mounted on the' inside of one side of the spacer 8 and has a plurality of air stream directing nozzles I2 so disposed as to project a 15 plurality of heated air streamslupwardly and against the sand mold forming surfaces 4 and 5,

substantially as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2.

A heater I3, consisting of a heat transfer chaml ber and a burner forgas or solid fuel (or utiliz- 20 ing electrical heat energy if suitable), is located adjacent the mold I and has its outlet I4 connected to the blower I5 whose outlet is i'n turn connected through the conduit I5 to the manifold II. A return manifold I1 having intake openings 25 I8 is located on the inside of the side wall of the spacer 8 opposite to that upon which the distributng manifold II ismounted. The return manifold I1 is connected through the return or recirculating conduit I8 to the intake of the heater I3. 30

Thus, it will be seen that in operation, a mass of heated air is delivered fromI the heater I3 to the interior mold forming surfaces 4 and 5 of the mold body I and is there forcibly projected against and along such surface in order to dry and 35 bake the green sand to a uniform depth and temperature, withoutvrequiring the heating of the entire mold body as would otherwise be the case if it were attempted to enclose the mold or ita parts in a heating oven. Air entering the return 40 manifold I1 and recirculating duct I3 is, of course, reheated and recirculated through the interior of the mold until the mold sand drying operation is complete. Thus, there is no loss of heated air to the atmosphere.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4, two mold bodies or flasks indicated generally at and 2| are mounted side by side and receive their heated, drying air from the oommon source comprising the heater 22 and blower 50 23. As will best be seen.from Fig. '4, the flasks 20 and 2| are each similarly spaced apart at the parting by the spacers 24, as was the case with the previously described construction of Figs. 1

and 2. In the case of the construction of Figs. 3 `titi and 4 however, both of the manifolds 25, mounted on the inside of the opposite sides of the spacers 24, are outlet distributing manifolds, each of the manifolds 25 being connected to the common header conduit 25 which in turn is connected to 60 the outlet duct 21 from the blower 23.

The body of mold sand -in each of the copes 2' is provided with outlet passages 28, much in the nature of a gate or riser in the mold, which in turn are connected to the recirculating ducts 23. 65

The ducts 28 are connected to the common return or recirculatlng .duct 30 leading to the intake of the heater 22.

Thus in operation, the heated mass of air from.

the heater 22 is introduced to the sand mold form- 70 ing surfaces in the interior of the mold bodies 20 and 2| from the directing nozzles of the manifolds 25, as substantially indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. to effect the desired baking and drying treatment ofthe green mold sand, thence it is 75 withdrawn from the interior of the molds 20 and 2I through the passages 28 to the recirculating ducts 29 and 30 to be reheated and recirculated.

In the modified form of construction shown such a manner that they arel spaced apart at- 5 in Figs. 5 and 6, the cope 30 and drag 3I of the lthe parting by means of the channel Vshaped I t \tionship by the spacer 32 for a'suillclent dismold body are assembled in spaced apart relatance to accommodate the distributing manifold 33. The manifold 33 is supported from the inside walls of the spacer 32 by means of the angle brackets 34 and is connected through the duct 35 to the blower 38 and heater 31. 'I'he manifold 33 has a plurality of directing nozzles 38 directed both upwardly and outwardly against the mold forming surface of the cope 30 and the downwardly directed nozzles 40, directed toward the mold forming surface 4I of the drag 3I. A recirculating or return duct 42 connects through the wall of the spacer 32 to the intake side of the heater 31. A vent 43 may be mounted through an opening in a wall In the spacer 32 opposite to that which the recirculating duct 42 isy connected. .The vent 43 may be utilized for withdrawing excess air from the interior of the mold, if found feasible.-

Our a ove described Invention, and the forms ofappar vtus embodying it, are particularly well adapted to theveiclent and economical drying of\ green sand in foundry molds which are of such size and weight that they cannot readily be accommodated in an oven structure, or'transported upon a continuous conveyor. Our invention thus not only overcomes the problem of conveying molds of this size for the purpose of sufficiently projecting a uniformly dry mass of heated air against their mold cavities, but also eliminates the necessity of a relatively large and cumbersome enclosing housing, inasmuch as the mold body itself constitutes the heat .transfer chamber.

While reference hereinbefore has been made to the drying of green sand molds, it will be understood, of course, that our improved apparatus is equally adaptable to the drying of molds, generally, whatever the particular material ofwhich they are composed whether sand, cement, plaster, clay, loam or other more refractory material.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, changes being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. In an apparatus for drying sand in foundry molds which consist of a mold body including separable upper and lower portions, the combination of means for generating and delivering a forcibly projected body of heated air, a spacer member having the same perimetric dimensions as those of said mold body and adapted to be linserted between the upper and lower mold body portions and adapted to form a continuation of the flask walls of said mold body, an air distributing outlet manifold mounted on the inside of said spacer member, and conduit means leading from said generating means through the walls of said spacer to said manifold.

2. In an apparatus for drying sand in foundry molds which consist of a mold body including separable upper and lower portions, the combination of means for generating and delivering a f forcibly projected body of heated air. a, spacer serted between the upper and lower mold body portions and adapted to form a continuation of the flask Walls` of said mold body, an air distributing outlet manifold mounted on the inside of said spacer member, a plurality of nozzles on said manifold for directing heated air streams against the interior surface of said mold body, and conduit means leading from said generating means through the walls of said spacer member to said manifold.

3. In an apparatus for drying sand in foundry molds, the combination of a forced air heater, a spacer in the form of a vertical continuation of the mold ilaskwalls and adapted to be inserted between the cope and the drag of the flask at the parting, a distributing-outlet manifold carried by said spacer, conduits connecting said heater to said manifold, and means for circulating air from said heater and through said conduits.

4. In an apparatus for drying sand in foundry molds, the combination of a forced air heater, a spacer in the form of a vertical continuation of the mold flask walls and adapted to be inserted between the cope and the drag of the flask at the parting, a distributing outlet manifold mounted on the inside wall of said spacer, conduits connecting said heater through openings in said spacer to said manifold, and means for circulating air from said heater and through said conduits.

5. In an apparatus for drying sand in foundry molds, the combination of a forced air heater, a spacer in the form of a vertical continuation of the mold flask walls and adapted to be inserted between the cope and the drag of the flask at the parting, a distributing `outlet manifold mounted on the inside wall of said spacer, said spacer having delivery andreturn openings through its wall, said delivery opening being in registry with said manifold, a delivery conduit connecting said heater to said delivery opening in said spacer, a

returnpconduit connecting said return opening in said spacer to said heater, and means for circulatingair from said heater and through said conduits. 1

6. In apparatus for drying sand in foundry molds, the combination of a. forced air heater, a spacer in the form of a, vertical continuation of the mold flask walls and adapted to be inserted between the cope and the drag of the flask at the parting, rsuch cope having a passage from the mold cavity therein to the exterior thereof, a delivery conduit connecting said heater to said manifold through an opening in the wall of said spacer, a return conduit adapted and arranged to connect the passage in such cope to said heater, and means for circulating air from said heater and through said conduits. f

.CHARLES A. BARNETI.

JOSEPH M. BEYVL.y

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Harrison Apr. 1, 1930 

